Manchester United offer Juan Mata to Inter Milan: Reports

According to reliable Italian journalist Gianluici Di Marzio, Manchester United have offered Inter Milan a chance to sign Juan Mata.

Mata, 29, joined United in January 2014 for a then club-record transfer fee from Chelsea. He left Chelsea as Jose Mourinho, who was their manager at that point of time did not prefer playing Mata owing to his slow pace and lack of defensive work-rate. Apparently, Mata was unsuitable to Chelsea’s counter-attacking system and was hence frozen out from the team prior to his departure to United in the winter transfer window.

However, at United, Mourinho has extensively used Mata whenever required. There has been a gradual regression in his overall style of play, as the Spaniard tends to struggle against physically dominating teams in the league. Due to the dynamics of the team, Mata does not feature in his preferred position, which is behind the striker. He has to play from the right wing, as the former Valencia man clearly struggles while coping up with the pace with which the game flows from the flanks.

This could well be an attempt to use Mata as a makeweight in the deal and lure Inter into selling Perisic to United. Mourinho’s team actively pursued the Croatian winger last summer. However, both the clubs’ valuation of Perisic differed by a slight amount, and hence the deal could not materialize.

Perisic signed a contract extension last season, and quite clearly looks to stay at Inter beyond this transfer window too. Contrary to Mata, Perisic is a player who would ideally fit Mourinho’s demands from a winger. He is ambidextrous and can cross the ball accurately inside the box. Perisic’s work-rate is quite impressive, and he was integral member of the Croatian team that entered the finals of the recently concluded FIFA World Cup.

United’s desperate attempts to sign Perisic have come quite late in the transfer market. As we approach the deadline day, a player plus cash deal including Juan Mata for Perisic seems unlikely.